From The Darkness
by xfyler159
Summary: **COMPLETE** Two Kids & a Babysitter are home alone. They hear footsteps upstairs. Their dog is bleeding & has slashes on its side. When they look out the opened door all they see are gaint red eyes coming from the darkness. Then it steps forward. Review!
1. Part I

Title: "From the Darkness" Author: Evan S. Edited by: Evan S., Cam S., and Laura M, Mrs. Tav, and Natalie Z. Special Help From: Tori- wrote a small part, Suzy-ideas, and Eva-lone gunmen info Category: X Files- Supernatural Contact: xfyler159@hotmail.com Rating: PG Disclaimer: All characters from the X-Files are the property of Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Television Network. All other characters belong to the Author(s).  
  
Introduction: This fan fiction story was originaly written in round-robin style by the X Files Guild of Neopia. But it turned into a 1 man job with some help from people along the way. And now for the part you're all waiting for, our story. Enjoy!  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Prologue  
  
Phoenix, Arizona May 12, 7:00  
  
A light wind could be felt blowing on that calm cool night, outside of the Smith residence. A normal babysitting night for Jenny was all that she wanted. The kids should be in bed by 8:00, nothing to it, she thought. She watched as the two kids waved good-bye to their parents. "Remember, let the dog out before you go to bed," said Mrs. Smith stepping into the car.  
  
"We will!" Bobby and Vanessa chimed together.  
  
Jenny took the kids to the basement to play until it was their bed time. After an hour of hide and seek and building with legos, Jenny looked at her watch. "Uh oh, its 10 minutes past your bed time. Let's go up stairs now." As soon as those words came out of her mouth there was a sound like footsteps coming from upstairs.  
  
"Mom and Dad must be home from the movies," Vanessa said staring blankly at the TV, which had just started a rerun of the 'Brady Bunch.' Bobby ran next to Jenny and said,  
  
"Daddy said they wouldn't be home till 11:00 though. Who could be upstairs?"  
  
" I'll go check. Vanessa, watch Bobby for me," Jenny told them.  
  
As she walked up the stairs she swore she heard someone walking around on the main floor of the house. When she finally got upstairs and entered the living room, she noticed that the back door was wide open.  
  
"Weird. it's not that windy outside. " she told herself. The Golden Retriever that was sleeping next to the door woke up and made a growling noise. "Shhh. Austin. I want to know where those sounds are coming from." Jenny told the dog as she was closing the door.  
  
The footsteps she was hearing somehow moved to the upstairs. She called to Bobby and Vanessa who were still downstairs "KIDS!! Stay down there. Something is in the house." She grabbed a broom from the pantry and made a beeline to the stairs. Heading upward towards the bedrooms Jenny felt a shiver go down her back and had the feeling that someone was watching her. Then she had an idea. Maybe I can scare them out of hiding. "I'm calling the police!" she yelled into the blackness as she walked up the stairs.  
  
Clutching the broom like a baseball bat she went into Bobby's room. Trying to find the light she thought of another lie, "I have a gun and I'm not afraid to use it!" When she finally found the light and flashed it on, the room was empty. She decided to leave that light on just to make her feel better. She went next door into Vanessa's room. "Last chance to come out without being shot!" she yelled into the room. She turned on the light and again nothing.  
  
She turned to the parents' room, last room at the end of the hallway. She decided to use the element of surprise this time. She crept down the hallway, her heart was beating fast. The hallway seemed to go on forever. She came to the opening of the door. On three, she thought to herself. She whispered, "One. two. three. " She jumped into the room as she turned on the light. Again empty. She started to think she was letting this get to her. A whining noise arose from down stairs. "The children!" that was all she could think about. She ran down the stairs as fast as her feet could carry her.  
  
Down the stairs leading to the main floor, then again down the stairs to the basement. "What was that noise?" Bobby asked.  
  
Jenny breathed. "Oh, thank goodness you're both okay... " She smothered the two in a hug, and broke away when they looked at her funny.  
  
"Let's get out of here NOW, and call your parents. I swear there is something in this damn house!" The kids felt a tingle. Even Jenny thought something was wrong, and she was supposed to be the "Mature One".  
  
"Excuse me... " The three dashed up the stairs and to the living room. There was a trail of blood from the top of the stairs to the door.  
  
Vanessa let out a scream. At the doorway was the golden retriever. He was lying motionless with three claw marks on its side, a gash looping his neck where the blood should have been flowing out. Jenny couldn't move. She couldn't think. The whole world had come to a halt. Then in the darkness from the doorway, a pair of big red eyes peered at the three of them. KAAATHHH.. was all they heard.  
  
The creature stepped forward. It's gore spattered coat glistened in the bit of light, and the rest of it was a shadowy form, barely visible in the dark. There was something not quite right about this animal, but the kids couldn't tell what it was. For a frightening second, it came forward, as if it would attack again, then it dashed away.  
  
Jenny rushed forward to the dog and knelt down. Her trembling hand touched the dog; it's eyes were closed. She thought there was nothing she could do now. She looked over at the kids. Bobby had sunk to the floor, tears wrenching his form.  
  
What the hell just happened? was all that went through her mind.  
  
With tears flowing down her face and her hair in her eyes, Jenny felt the dog's side. The golden brown dog had died. Vanessa had walked over to Bobby and sat down next to him. She did not say anything. Jenny slowly walked to Bobby and gave him a hug, letting the kids cry all over her shirt. The teen came here with the promise of an easy job, $20, and the chance to act like a goofball with some kids. She just did not understand it. what could that have been anyway. the dog. their sanity. what was it?  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Basement, J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building 9:00 am.  
  
Special Agent Dana Scully walked down the long basement hallway, the way she did everyday for work, her curved bright red hair bouncing at her shoulders. She reached the door marked, "Fox Mulder" and reached for the handle. To her surprise the door opened.  
  
"Morning, Scully!" It was Agent Fox Mulder her maverick FBI partner. He looked dressed down today for some reason; instead of his full suit and tie he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  
  
"Mulder? Where do you think your go-"  
  
"Never mind that, look at this new case I'm working on." She followed him inside the office. He fired up the old slide projector. "We really need to get a new projector in here. It's the year 2003 for crying out loud." He moved around some papers and pulled down the blank screen.  
  
"What did you want to show me?" she said taking a seat on the desk.  
  
"This... " Mulder switched on the projector to a gory picture of a dog. "Animal mutilations. Here, here, and here," He said as he switched the slides.  
  
"Cultists?" Scully asked.  
  
"Thats what I thought. But look at this." The new slide had a picture of dirt with footprints in it. They were deep in the ground and looked like whenever the thing made the prints, the ground must have been mud. They had three toes and no heal pad.  
  
"What is it?" she said studying the picture.  
  
"I have no idea. So that's why we're going to Pheonix, Arizona. Come on, Scully, it'll be fun. We can go see some of the sites while we're there."  
  
"Mulder? Phoenix?" She watched him gather papers on his desk and stuff them into a briefcase.  
  
"Here is your plane ticket; go home, get some comfortable clothes on 'cause we've got a long flight." And with that he left the office.  
  
"But... oh... never mind... " Scully gathered her coat and followed him out the door.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
No sooner did they leave the J. Edger Hoover Building than they were on the plane heading for Arizona.  
  
"MULDER!" Scully shook him. He awoke with a start.  
  
"What? What?" he said reaching for his gun.  
  
"Calm down, I just need you to fill me in on this case."  
  
"Multilated dog. Three witnesses. This is the 3rd attack in the last two weeks. All in a four mile radius." He pulled some papers out of his briefcase.  
  
"Who were the witnesses?" she asked.  
  
"Bobby Smith, age 7. Vanessa Smith, age 11. And the babysitter Jenny Newheart, age 16. The reports say that they were in the basement when they heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. The dog had slices taken from its abdomen."  
  
Scully took the pictures from the file and looked at them. The picture of the dog were the same as the ones in the office. She then looked at the children.  
  
"Poor kids. They had to see their dog in shreds. Wait a minute, there's something your not telling me." Scully said. Mulder handed her the police reports.  
  
"It's says that they saw something run off the porch." He tried to get comfortable in his seat again.  
  
"Its probably just a wolf or a large cat." Scully put everyting back in the bag.  
  
"Then how do you explain the tracks? The lab said they weren't any tracks that they've ever seen before." He closed his eyes and leaned his chair back.  
  
"There's a logical explanation. Don't go thinking its-"  
  
Mulder butted in. "El chupacabra? Aliens doing tests on animals? Crazed animal hunting vampires?"  
  
"Well, whatever it is, we need to interview the children first."  
  
"Please put your seats in the full, up-right possition. Turn off all electrical equipment. We will be landing shortly." The speakers crackled and faded.  
  
"HEY! What about my salted peanuts?" Mulder said looking up at the speaker as if it would supply him with a snack. Scully gave him a look that seemed to say 'You're joking right?'  
  
"Sunflower seeds are fine too... " She reached in her carry on suitcase and threw a bag to him.  
  
"Happy now?" she put her seat up and waited to land.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
The pair of agents drove down the lonely, desert road.  
  
Scully asked, "How far out of Phoenix is this?"  
  
"Just a few more minutes, they live in the outer suburbs," Mulder said as he looked at a big building. It was called Rie-del Labs. "Thats odd... Why would a laboratory be all the way out here?" They continued to drive until they came to a little neighborhood. Mulder looked at the document where the police did the interview. 5260 Linnwood Drive was the address.  
  
"The blue house." Scully pointed to the biggest house in the area.  
  
Mulder knocked on the door. A small brunette woman in her mid- thirties came out. "May I help you?" she said. A young boy who wore a baseball uniform ran up next to her.  
  
"Mrs. Elisabeth Smith? We're with the FBI. We need to interview your children about what happened the night they reported their dog being attacke,." Mulder told her as another child ran up behind the mom.  
  
"Alright. Come on in." Mrs. Smith led them to their living room. It was decorated in a western sort of feel. They had a stuffed rattlesnake in the back corner. Their couches were made of a reddish leather.  
  
"Bobby and Vanessa?" Scully asked.  
  
"Yes... " they answered.  
  
"What exactly happened that night when your babysitter was over?" Mulder questioned as he sat down on their couch.  
  
"Me and Jenny started hearing a noise upstairs," the seven year old said.  
  
"So she wentup stairs and told us to stay here. We couldn't wait anymore so we went upstairs to check on her," the girl continued.  
  
"Then we were upstairs and found the dog dead. Then there were the eyes..." Bobby grabbed his mom and started crying.  
  
"Do you know what made those eyes, Bobby?" Mulder looked at him.  
  
"No... " he said from his mom's lap.  
  
"What about you Vanessa?" The 11 year old looked at Mulder and shook her head.  
  
"Where is the babysitter? Jenny Newheart?" Scully asked.  
  
"Oh, she lives across the street. I doubt she'll ever want to babysit for us again." The voice was Mr. Smiths. "I'm Paul Smith, nice to meet you. Just came home to get a bite for lunch." He shook Mulder and Scully's hand. He pointed out the window to a nice reddish house with a garden on the side. "Yup, that's her's."  
  
"Mr. Smith... " Scully said as she sat back down from the handshake. "Do you know anything about the animal-"  
  
"Thing," Mulder said again butting in.  
  
"Excuse me...The thing that attacked your dog?" The man got very pale.  
  
"I-I-I haven't the slightest idea. P-probably a large cat like a cougar or something."  
  
Scully gave Mulder the "I told you so" look.  
  
"What do you do for a living Mr. Smith?" Mulder decided to continue the conversation.  
  
"I'm a scientist at the Rei-Del Lab just a few miles from here. I have to get back there now if you don't mind." he said getting his coat and taking one last drink of water.  
  
"Thank you very much. If any of you think of anything else you might have forgotten, here is my card." Mulder handed her his card and went for the door.  
  
"Wait!" Bobby yelled as he sprang from his mother's arms. "The thing, it had wings. But it couldnt use them very well, it sorta jumped like a kangaroo."  
  
Paul began to cough loudly as he heard the news. "Is something wrong Mr. Smith? I'm a medical doctor, can I help?" Scully walked up next to him. He drank from the cup in his hand.  
  
"I'm fine...I just erm...took a drink too fast." He regained some of his color.  
  
"Thank you for letting us interview you and your family." The two investigators left the house and went for the babysitter.  
  
"Strange man. Did you see the way he reacted when his kid started to descibe the thing?" Mulder said.  
  
"Yes, I wonder if he knows something," Scully replied. They made their way across the street to the Newheart home. A young woman opened the door right as they stepped onto the front porch.  
  
"Jennifer Newheart?" Scully said. The teen nodded.  
  
"We're from the FBI." Mulder held out his badge. "Can we come in?"  
  
"I've told the police everything I know. I just want to forget," she said closing the door. Mulder put his foot in the way to keep it from shutting.  
  
"Please, whatever attacked that dog has attacked three other animals. Help us catch it before its next victim is a human." Something about that phased Jenny. She opened the door.  
  
"Alright...come in.What do you need to know?" She let out a sigh then perked up. "MOM!" the girl yelled. Mulder was startled by the sudden outburst and jumped back slightly. "The FBI is here, can you get some drinks?"  
  
Scully heard a lady's voice come from the kitchen. She couldn't make out what it said but assumed it was a "yes" to the question. Jenny led them into their living room and had them take a seat. It was oddly arranged like the Smith's residence. Although the Newheart's house had more of a Pueblo Indian feel. On the mantle to the fireplace they had a dreamcatcher and on top of the TV was a painting of a herd of buffalo.  
  
Mrs. Newheart came in the room with ice tea. "Hello! I'm Allison, nice to make your aquaintance," she said as she scurried around the room passing out drinks. She spoke with a slight Minnesotan accent which Mulder thought was a little strange because they were living in Arazona. As she continued to move around the room she sort of reminded him of his own mother. The white hair, the apron, everything fit but the accent.  
  
"She has had such a rough time the last few days. She has-"  
  
"Mother! I can handle this." Allison gave her daughter a stern look then went back to the kitchen. "Let's get this over with." Jenny's attention was now on Mulder, he was about to eat some fruit from the table. "Uh, you don't want to eat that. That's wax fruit." He had a surprised look on his face and set the fruit down.  
  
"What is your side of the story?" Scully said as she sipped the tea.  
  
"Like I told the cops, I was babysitting, I heard a noise, went upstairs to check, came back down, and the dog was dead."  
  
"Anything strange besides that? The Smith children said they saw some red eyes." Mulder set his cup on the coffeetable.  
  
"Yes... I saw those red eyes... they were... " Her eyes started to water. "They were so big... I couldn't think. It was like I was frozen in fear. All I saw were those eyes and the dog. But there was something wrong. The blood...the only blood was the path to the door and oustide the wound. But it was like... " Her bottom lip started to quiver. "Like it was sucked out." Mulder returned the 'I told you so look' to Scully.  
  
"Well thank you." Again he handed out his card then left the home. "So... " Mulder poked her.  
  
"So what? It doesn't mean anything." Scully walked towards the car.  
  
"She said there wasnt any blood in the animal. Like it had all been sucked out!." He was so excited he seemed as if he were going to fly.  
  
"Mulder...that doesn't prove anything. Find me some physical evidence and I'll believe it was a monster." Scully got into the drivers seat.  
  
"Um... Scully?" he questioned.  
  
"Yes, Mulder?" she said as her partner got into the car.  
  
He started laughing uncontrollably. "Can your feet touch the pedals?"  
  
"Oh shut up Mulder... "  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Mulder and Scully drove down the highway to the nearest motel.  
  
"We're at a dead end. There's nothing that says it is an animal and nothing that says it's anything else. We should stay the night here and then go back to Washington tomorrow," Scully said putting the key in the lock. Mulder got his suitcase out of the back seat along with Scully's. Mulder was quiet for the next hour. "I know you're disappointed, but... " She tried to get him to talk but all he did was stare at the TV.  
  
Mulder looked up from the news and said, "There's something here...I can feel it. I don't know what it is... but something is going to happen... and soon." Little did he know, he was right. 


	2. Part II

Part II  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Meriden, Arizona 9:30pm.  
  
"Come on now, Betty! Gettyup!" Peter tried to move his horse to the barn but it was agitated and wouldn't move. The 40-year-old man with graying hair slapped her hindquarters and said, "Betty, the sun's almost settin' and I gotta get back to the lab. Now inta' the stable." An animal had raced past them and the horse reared up and threw him off her back.  
  
He got up and dusted the dirt off his jean shirt and pants. "Hey! That wasn't nice now. We're getting ya' back to your stable. Come on!" He tugged on her reins. She stopped jumping. Whatever scared her wasn't around anymore. Stan led her into the barn and put her in the stall. "There ya' go. All nice and comfy." He reached for some hay and started feeding it to her. "Woah!" He thought he saw something race behind the stable next to him.  
  
Naw... musta' been my imagination he thought. He went back to what he was doing. The horse started whinnying and moving around recklessly. "Settle down. Nothings around," he told her. But he didn't believe what he was saying.  
  
The rafters above him started to creak. He looked up just as a red blur shot past him. I better get out of here he thought. Some buckets that he used to feed the animals crashed down from the loft. He started moving towards the barn door.  
  
A KAAATHHH noise started up behind him. He turned around to see that his horse had fallen down. He went over to see what happened. She had claw marks on her side. He kneeled down to get a closer look. There wasn't blood leaking out from the area but you could still see inside it. It was as if something had removed the blood. "This is too weird for me. I'm going to call the police," he said to himself out loud. The thought of his hoarse living one minute and then dreadfully wounded terrified him.  
  
He stood up and looked around the room. A vampire bat maybe... he thought. But it couldn't make those marks and the blood would still be running. Again the KAAATHHH noise sounded. He was frozen with fear. "What the-" He felt something land on his back. It bit into his neck then into his side. He wrestled with whatever was on him. The room started spinning, and he fell to the floor.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
"Talk about being psychic, eh, Scully?" Mulder said as he moved around the body and started taking pictures. "This'll be a body you will need to autopsy." Mulder went over to the police and started talking with the chief. "Can we get this sent over to the morgue and get an autopsy room ready so Agent Scully can get started?" The police chief nodded. He watched the chief get into his police car and radio the command in.  
  
Mulder walked back and looked at the body again. "There are slashes around the back and neck. It could have been a knife attack but these four marks side by side indicate it to be a hand or a paw." Scully moved the man from lying on his stomach to his back. She let out a gasp.  
  
He had more of those marks on his front. "Whatever did this might still be around," Scully whispered. A group of police who were marking the scene with crime tape started gathering around the back stall. She told Mulder to see if they could get an ID from the man as she walked to where the police were circled. The musty smell of death had settled into the barn. A little like a nursing home.  
  
She opened the gate and saw the horse lying there. She knelt down to it. Everything was the same as the last few cases.  
  
"This horse died the way its owner did.but what could have done this?"  
  
She looked around the area for clues to what could have caused the misfortune. In the back of the stall, there were, what looked like, indentions in the ground. They were three little imprints that looked like they were moving towards the body.  
  
"How about we get castings of these and then send them to Quantico and see if these match the others," she told the police chief.  
  
She made her way back through the site to Mulder.  
  
"Find anything?" she looked down at the body.  
  
"Oh nothing really, just his wallet and his ID badge."  
  
"ID badge. For what?" she took the badge from him.  
  
"The body is Peter Baker's and he works, I mean, worked for the Rie-Del labs." Mulder watched her bag the badge.  
  
"That's the same place Paul Smith worked, at right?" Scully questioned.  
  
"Uh huh, looks like we got a new lead. I'll go to the labs to see if anyone knows anything and you can get to the autopsy. Unless. you need any help." He grinned.  
  
"I'm fine, go ahead." They finished up, got into their cars, and then went their separate ways. ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Meriden City Morgue 10:30pm.  
  
Scully turned on the tape recorder and put her latex gloves on.  
  
"X File case #1379. Name: Peter Baker. The body: Caucasian, male, 182 centimeters tall, which is about 6 feet, and one hundred seventy pounds. I'll begin with the outer analysis. Scratch marks about."  
  
She took the tape measure off the table next to her.  
  
"15 centimeters by 3 centimeters, moving down at a horizontal motion, there is no blood in the body. Now I will start with the Y incision."  
  
The night passed on slowly for Scully, taking out organs, weighing, measuring, documenting. She wondered how Mulder was coming, hoping that he wasn't getting in trouble. But she knew that was wishful thinking. Whenever they separated, he was always into something.  
  
Her cell phone started to ring. Must be Mulder. she thought. She took off the gloves and right as she answered it the battery went dead. "Damn it."  
  
She started dozing off while she was finishing up and stumbled into the body. She heard a snap.  
  
"What the. " She examined the left outer side of the body. There was something poking out. Scully reached for her tweezers and pulled it out. It was a brown, stick like thing, sharpened at one end. Could it be, she thought, could it be a fingernail?  
  
"I have just found what could have been a weapon used to make these markings." She spoke clearly into the mike. "It's a nail-like form. Pointed like a razor. It would compare with what the markings looked like, one inch wide but only two inches long. I will get this down to the lab guys as soon as I finish."  
  
Scully set the nail on the table and started sewing up the body. Mulder. she thought. Why aren't you here?  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Rei-Del Labs 12:00am  
  
Mulder made his way up to the security gate of the lab. The drive from the barn and the labs had taken longer then he thought. He had a flat tire on the way out.  
  
"Of all the places to get a flat. it just had to be in the middle of the desert," he mumbled.  
  
He pulled up at the gate. A night guard came out of the booth and bent down to the car window. "Can I help you?" he said.  
  
Mulder looked up at the burly man that was about a head taller than he was, then flashed his badge. "Yes, I'm looking for the owner of Rie-Del labs concerning a Mr. Baker and Mr. Smith. May I come in?"  
  
"Oh. you're looking for Dr. Denise Mitchell. She isn't here right now. Anyway even if she was here you couldn't come in. This is a government- controlled area. Please remove yourself from the premises of this lab at once or I'll be forced to escort you," he said irritably.  
  
"It's about a murder. I have to talk with her," Mulder said putting his badge away. "Do you at least have her number? Or some way I can talk with her?"  
  
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to give out that information. Please leave now Sir." The guard turned around and went for the booth again.  
  
"Yeah.thanks," Mulder said under his breath.  
  
In his mind he thought, we'll see about not getting in. "  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Meriden City Crime Lab 12:30am  
  
Scully was in the sitting in the waiting room ready to read the reports on what was in the nail, and then remembered to call Mulder. She dialed his cell number and listened to the ring. A voice from the other end said, "This is Fox Mulder, I can't answer my phone right now, but please leave your name and number and I will get back to you."  
  
"Mulder, it's me."  
  
She talked into the phone as a lab tech came up next to her. Scully put up one finger and he waited patiently.  
  
"Call me back when you get the chance; I found a finger-nail in our body. Could help tell what did this."  
  
She hung up the phone and turned when she saw a man walking towards her. Nothing seemed odd about him at the end of the hallway. But she had to do a double take to see that he was much shorter then she was. No taller then five-foot.  
  
"I've got the details back on your nail. It's not human. But it's nothing that we've ever seen before. Where did you say you got this?" He looked excited.  
  
"From one of our bodies, why? Could you tell what it's made out of?"  
  
"Not from the tests we've run. But if you give us some more time."  
  
"I'm in no rush. Here is my cell phone number." She wrote it down on a piece of paper. "Tell me when the reports come in."  
  
She watched the tech-man race down the hallway with the papers flapping in the air.  
  
She turned back towards the door, "Now. to find Mulder."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Mulder drove around the city looking at the sites. He said to himself, "Not much here." I better get to finding Dr. Mitchell, he thought.  
  
He picked up his cell phone and called the FBI database "This is Special Agent Fox Mulder, badge number JTTO4710111. I need you to find a phone number and address to a Dr. Denise Mitchell."  
  
He pulled the car over to the side of the road and got out a pen and pencil. "Uh huh, 7323 Silver Moon Ave, what's the number? Uh huh, uh huh, thank you. You've been a great help."  
  
Mulder started driving in the direction of the address. To his surprise it wasn't far from where he had been; it was only a 5-mile drive.  
  
As he entered the neighborhood he looked around at all the big houses. "Whoa, talk about the life styles of the rich and famous. Everyone in here must be either a doctor or a scientist."  
  
The first house on his left was where he pulled in. The trees must have been about 40 years old. The neighborhood may have been old, but the houses seemed new. He out of the corner of his eye he could see kids playing in the backyard swimming pool.  
  
Mulder knocked at the door. No one was in there. They all must be outside he thought. He made his way around back and opened the gate. "Dr. Mitchell? Are you back here?"  
  
The kids who were playing suddenly went quiet when they saw him. He gazed around the pool and saw a woman who was tanning get up and walk over.  
  
"What can I do for you?" she said.  
  
"Are you Dr. Denise Mitchell?"  
  
"Yes, I am. Did you have any problems with our butler? He said he'd answer the door."  
  
This woman, Mulder thought, couldn't be over 35. Not a wrinkle on her face, but she had 2 kids that looked around the ages of 14 and 12. Mulder shrugged off the feeling that she got married early.  
  
"Um, no one answered the door so I came around. I'm here to ask you some questions." He pulled out his badge.  
  
"Oh my," Her face lost all emotion. "What happened?"  
  
"I'm investigating the death of one of your co-workers, and the attack of another co-workers dog. I have some questions. Something keeps attacking people that work for Rei-Del labs. So far what ever it is has worked down the job ladder. I was thinking about starting from the top and your name came up." He got his notebook and a pen out of his pocket.  
  
"You don't think I have something to do with this?" she questioned.  
  
"I haven't said anything. Are you or your staff working on anything that might cause you to have enemies?" he asked.  
  
"Well, they are shutting down a project we're working on," she said,  
  
"What type of project?"  
  
"One that involves using parts of-" she cut herself off.  
  
"Go ahead-continue."  
  
"I can't tell you any more. It would break my confidentiality agreement. I need to ask you to leave now. I'm in a rush. You'll have to show yourself out. I'm sorry."  
  
Mulder having graduated from the top in his class in criminology, could tell she was hiding something, but what it was, he couldn't tell.  
  
"I'm gonna need some help on this one, though. And I think I know just who to talk to."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Phoenix Airport 5:00am  
  
"Hey! Mulder! Over here!" Three men dressed all in black came off the gateway. Mulder went over to them and shook each of their hands.  
  
"Sorry we're so late; we had to make sure no one was following us so we had to switch airplanes three times." Richard Langly said.  
  
Langly had a hippy sort of look- the tallest of the three with blonde hair down to the middle of his back and bottle cap glasses.  
  
Melvin Frohike, the shortest of the bunch, pushed his way between the two and asked, "Where is the beautiful Agent Scully? She is here right?" He looked around for her while fixing what was left of the hair on his balding head.  
  
Mulder started walking to the front of the airport. "Nope, but we need to find her. Last time I checked she was doing an autopsy. When I called, she wouldn't pick up her phone."  
  
As they walked John Byers pulled a magazine out of his bag, "Mulder, have you read our latest edition of 'The Lone Gunmen'? We've got news on what really went on during the Watergate scandal and proof that Elvis is alive and well, living in Tulsa."  
  
Jonathan Fitzgerald Byers got his namesake from J.F.K, although his appearance was nothing like the president, with his red hair and beard-line facial hair. He was, how you could put it, the most normal of the Lone Gunmen.  
  
"Thanks. I'll read this while you guys get me some documents," Mulder said.  
  
That comment surprised the threesome. "What do you need us to do?" Langly asked.  
  
"Sounds like a hacking job," Frohike said as he got into Mulder's car.  
  
Mulder put their suitcases in the back and got into the driver's seat. "Actually guys, it's more of a 'sneak into a high security laboratory' job."  
  
Langly reached into his bag and got out his laptop. "I'm up for a challenge," he said as he tapped away at it.  
  
"What is the lab called and where's it at?" Byers got a map out of the glove box.  
  
"Rei-Del labs, it's off the road about 30 minutes from here. I need you to find a Dr. Mitchell's files, anything in there. They have to do with parts of-" Mulder stopped talking.  
  
Langly looked up from his laptop, "Parts of what?"  
  
"That's just it. Dr. Mitchell stopped talking after she said 'parts of'. So anything that has that in it, I want you to get."  
  
"I get to bypass the security system." Frohike announced.  
  
Langly closed his computer, "No way, you did it last time."  
  
"Well, I'm not going undercover, I always do that," Byers complained.  
  
Mulder didn't care which jobs they got, as long as they got the job done. So he just let them argue and kept his eyes to the road.  
  
"Mulder watch out!" Byers yelled.  
  
Mulder swerved the car just inches away from what looked like a small kangaroo with piercing red eyes jumping across the road. "What the hell was that?" he asked. There was a complete silence in the car the rest of the way to the lab.  
  
________________________________________________________________________ 


	3. Part III

Part III  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Meriden, Motel 9 6:00am  
  
Scully had given up on Mulder at the morgue. So she went to the motel and slept for about 5 hours. When she woke up she realized that Mulder still wasn't there. "Where are you, Mulder?" she said as she looked in the mirror combing her hair.  
  
She turned on the TV, picked up her cell phone and pushed the buttons. She listened to the ring as she watched parts of "Good Morning America."  
  
"Hello?" said a male voice.  
  
"Mulder? Whose phone is this?" Scully wondered if she had called the wrong number.  
  
"Why if it isn't the wonderful Dana Scully," Frohike said.  
  
"Frohike, give the phone to Mulder. I'm not in the mood to talk." There was some rumbling in the background.  
  
"Mulder here," a familiar voice spoke.  
  
"Mulder! Where are you? I waited for 2 hours for you to come to the morgue or at least pick up your cell phone. And what are the guys doing in Arizona?"  
  
By the tone in her voice, he knew that she was on the edge. Anything he said could make her explode. "We're about 8 miles from the Rei-Del labs, and Um... Scully, remember when... uh. I mean how... well..." he mumbled.  
  
"Spit it out."  
  
"They're helping me get some documents from inside the lab. All right, talk to you later. Bye" He spoke so fast she couldn't really hear what he said.  
  
Scully heard a beep and the line went dead. She said under her breath "Mulder, you're crazy. Don't do anything stupid 'till I get there."  
  
She packed up her things, put them in the car, and drove to the lab.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Rei-Del Labs  
  
Mulder spoke into the hidden microphone. "Hey guys, you ready?" He looked out the window and saw a red car coming down the road.  
  
Frohike checked the wires and said, "Everything's good. We just need Scully now." The car stopped and a lady got out. "Why speak of the devil."  
  
"You guys can't break in there; we'd be breaking millions of rules at the FBI. This is a government-owned and controlled area," she said.  
  
Mulder smiled, "We're the government, aren't we Scully?"  
  
Byers came around from the front of the van. "The wires are all good and so is the camera. Now we need to wait until nighttime."  
  
Langly was busy tapping on his computer. "Why didn't we bring another laptop. I'll need another one to be able to give you the floor plans and keep on eye out. um, Mulder? We need to tell Scully about what her job is."  
  
"My what? I'm not having anything to do with this!" Her face was red with anger.  
  
Mulder turned to look at Langly. "That was a small thing I managed to forget. Are you ready to be 'Secret Agent Scully?" He watched her raise an eyebrow. "We need you to help me distract the guard as Byers and Frohike sneak in."  
  
Scully looked around the back of the van. She could have sworn she heard the "Mission Impossible" theme. "What's this going to prove?" she asked.  
  
He came right out with; "That it was or was not a monster."  
  
"Fine. I'll do it."  
  
"Now we just got ta' wait." Mulder looked around the van,"Anyone have any cards or something?" Scully shook her head as Mulder searched for something to do.  
  
"This is going to be a long wait," She muttered.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Rei-Del Labs 10:00 pm.  
  
"Everyone know their mission?" Byers asked.  
  
Mulder was the first to talk. "Yeah, Scully and I distract the guard so Frohike and Byers can get in. Langly, you relay them the floor plan of the building. Then they get in and see what documents are in there. When they're safely out of the building, Scully and I will leave."  
  
"Right, let's get this over with." Scully left the back of the van and made her way towards the lab.  
  
"You know, I could distract the guard and you could sneak inside." Frohike winked. Mulder glared at him. Frohike shrugged. "Can't blame a guy for tryin'."  
  
"Scully! Wait up." Mulder came out from the back of the van. "Forgot your ear-piece."  
  
"Thanks," she said. "What are we going to talk about with the guard?"  
  
"You know.the regular thing. Like the weather." He chuckled. "Come on and lighten up. You can really get quite talk-a-tive when you want to."  
  
"I'll be a real chatter box tonight." She smiled.  
  
"You guys!" Langly came over the microphone. Scully and Mulder froze in their tracks.  
  
Mulder spoke softly, "What's wrong?"  
  
"Just calm down. You look jumpy. I'm sending in Byers and Frohike now. Be ready to start." The mike fizzled out.  
  
"Here we go." Scully walked up to the guardhouse, tapped on the glass, and showed her badge. "Sir, we need to talk with you." The same man Mulder had talked to earlier came out.  
  
"I already talked to him and I've got nothing more to say," the guard said.  
  
"Mr.-" Mulder looked at his nametag. "Mr. Kramer, never mind about what I said last time. We're out on a different case now. We are investigating the. " he turned to Scully.  
  
"We're investigating employer abuse against night-help." Scully shrugged her shoulders at Mulder when Mr. Kramer wasn't looking.  
  
"You know what? That has been happening around here lately. Why don't you come inside and I'll tell you about it." Mr. Kramer led them inside the small hut.  
  
"All clear," Mulder whispered.  
  
Langly was busy on his laptop. "I've almost got the security gate open. One more minute and. THERE!" The gates opened up and Byers and Frohike ran through.  
  
"The cameras are off, right?" Byers questioned.  
  
"Yes, give me a second on this last one."  
  
Frohike looked up at the camera and a red light went off.  
  
"Everything should be ok from here," Langly said. "Now I just need the floor plan." He worked a little more on the computer and a screen popped up with the blueprints. "Oh, what you can find on the internet these days."  
  
Frohike ducked around the back of the building. "Come on Langly. Which way do we go now?"  
  
"Go to your left and you'll see a door marked 'loading dock.' Go through that and you will find a green hallway. That's the zoology department."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
The guys crept down the back of the labs and saw a few guards outside. "We have company," Frohike said.  
  
Langly came back on the mike, "No problem. Let me create a decoy. I'll just set off this alarm over at the other side of the lab."  
  
An earsplitting noise arose and all the guards ran for the northern part of the building.  
  
Byers whispered as he ran to the door. "Here's our chance." As they reached the door a sound picked up behind them. "We're done for," he said under his breath.  
  
Frohike turned around and saw it was only a cat playing in the garbage can next to them. "Yeah, here's our threat," he joked. He bent down and scratched the cat behind the ear. "Let's go."  
  
They opened the door and went inside. Byers felt his heart slow down from the fright outside. "Langly said to go down this way." Byers led the way down the hall, to the left, and to a door that read "Dr. Mitchell." On the left of the doorknob it had a number pad. "Use this." Byers pulled a device out of his bag. He set it on the door lock. It was about the size of a palm pilot that wrapped around the handle and part of the keypad. He messed with it for a second and on the screen numbers started moving. It looked like something from the Matrix. "It's a eight number code. It should only take about two minutes." There was a beep and the numbers moving in the first column stopped and a five showed up. The rest of the numbers continued spinning.  
  
"You guys alright?" Langly questioned.  
  
"Yeah it's almost done. But-" he was cut off by some voices coming from the end of the hallway.  
  
"Quick, in here." Frohike pointed to the air vent in the side of the wall. "Langly, we need a map of the air ducts. Can you find on?"  
  
"Way ahead of you," he sounded proud of himself. "Just go down till you get to your first left."  
  
Byers took off his black hat and gloves. He whispered, "Is it me, or it getting really hot in here?"  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
"So Mr. Kramer, what's being going on that you say is abuse?" Scully sat down in a folding chair. The small guard building looked like a disaster site. It had pieces of donuts lying in places around the room and a few magazines turned upside down on the table, the monitors overhead were of the lab's many rooms.  
  
"Well. it started a few weeks ago. My boss, Dr. Mitchell wanted me to stay later a few nights a week. Now something has her upset and she wants me to stay here every night." He adjusted his belt and took a bite of a left over donut. "It gets boring down here so I like to watch a little TV or read magazines. But then last night she went berserk and started yelling and throwing things at me. If you ask me, something must have gone wrong with one of her experiments."  
  
Mulder walked around the room and asked, "Has she done any of this today?"  
  
"No. not in the last few hours." A light on one of the walls started flashing followed by a small beep. Mr. Kramer looked at the monitors. "Excuse me; the lab is getting a little hot. I need to turn up the air conditioning." He turned a few knobs and typed numbers into the system. "All done. the air ducts should start to work any time now."  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Byers climbed hand over hand through the small vent followed by Frohike. "Now I know what a termite feels like." Frohike joked. The air started picking up. "Uh. Byers, I think they just turned on the air. " A powerful burst of air came from behind them and blew them threw the small tube.  
  
"Langly!" Byers yelled into his microphone. "Where are we going?" They came to the end of the vent and fell through the open space. "Oomph," he said as he hit the ground. He looked up and saw Frohike fall on top of him.  
  
Frohike looked down at him. "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah. my butt broke the fall." He stood up and checked for any damage. "Oh My Gosh. "  
  
"Byers! Frohike! Where are you? What's wrong?" Byers could hear Langly speed typing on his keyboard through his ear piece.  
  
"I wish you could see this." Frohike moved around the room looking into all the cages. There were animals in them. But something was wrong. A there was a monkey with, instead of an arm, had a wing, and instead of a tail, had a fin running down its back. He peered closer into the cage, the monkey saw Frohike looking at him and let out a roar. The roar startled him and he backed into the cage behind him. What ever was in there grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer.  
  
"BYERS! HELP ME!" he yelled while wrestling the animal. Byers ran over and grabbed one of the hairy arms and started hitting it. It let go and slithered to the back of the cage. "Thanks. " he breathed heavily and turned around to his attacker. It was a giant python with arms of a gorilla. Frohike started heading for the door. "Come on, let's get out of here." He reached for the handle and tried to turn it.  
  
"What?" Byers said.  
  
"We're locked in. "  
  
"Langly, get Mulder and Scully, we are locked in here and need their help." Byers said into the mike.  
  
"I'm on it." He said. The guard voices that they heard before sounded louder. Hurry though. Byers thought.  
  
________________________________________________________________________ 


	4. Part IV

Part IV  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Rie-Del Labs 11:00 pm.  
  
"Hey, you two," Langly whispered into the mike. "Byers and Frohike are trapped inside and need you to get them out."  
  
"Damn it."  
  
Mr. Kramer looked confused, "Excuse me Agent Mulder?"  
  
"Oh, I said uh, Slam it. Just watching the basketball game on TV," He pointed to the only screen that wasn't receiving a camera picture.  
  
"Well, thank you Mr. Kramer. Agent Mulder and I will look into Dr. Mitchell once we get back to D.C." Scully said as she shook his hand and watched Mulder do the same. Then the guard walked them out the door.  
  
"How are we going to get back in?" Mulder asked.  
  
Langly came back on the speaker "Get ready."  
  
They both paused, "Ready for wha-" Sparks from an electrical box started shooting out, then a big explosion. The lights all around the complex went out.  
  
Mulder grabbed Scully's arm. "Come on, let's go!" They ran down the darkened path to a door.  
  
"Is this it?" She reached into her pocked and took out her flash light. The door read 'Animal Research.' Mulder reached inside his pocket.  
  
"Rats, I forgot my flashlight." He said.  
  
"This is just not your week is it, first the flat tire and now the flash light. What next?" He sensed a bit of a bit of sarcasm in her voice.  
  
"Thank goodness, I've got you though." She opened the door and led Mulder down the pitch black hallway. Some muffled voices came from one of the rooms. "Hey Scully, wait up, something's going on." He could tell one of them was yelling.  
  
Scully was getting irritated, "Stay here if you want. I'm finding Byers and Frohike. Meet up down the hall, Langly can give you instructions." Mulder tried to get her attention but it was too late. She disappeared into the shadows.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Paul Smith paced around the room. "Why the heck do you want to continue with it? We've already lost one member of the group and it's attacked my dog. What if it hadn't have been the dog, what if it was one of my kids? Or one of yours?"  
  
"Dr. Smith, the board wants to continue the project. Just think about it, if we are able to create enough of them, the United States military would be unstoppable and we would be rich. No more, small Arizona lab, but a giant compound of high tech research tools. We would be famous. Your children could go to a private school. Just think of it." Dr. Mitchell sat at her desk watching him.  
  
"I can't risk it. The FBI will catch on sooner or later that Baker's death wasn't an accident." Dr. Smith said.  
  
"He was a minor. how could I put this. glitch in the plans. No one will miss him. He lived on that ranch all by himself, no family left."  
  
Dr. Smith started getting jumpy, "Tell me, what did he do? Why did he deserve that?"  
  
"He was going to take our project and make it nationally known. We'd be ruined."  
  
"You have to stop the project though. That or. or. I'll."  
  
"You'll what?" Dr. Mitchell smirked.  
  
"I'll t-take it to the p-press. I don't care what happens to me. The world will know about it."  
  
"Well. in that case. Piers!" She had called on something.  
  
Paul Smith started looking around the room. "No! No! Please not him." The room suddenly got colder. Out from the darkness in the corner of the room, red eyes flashed and whatever it was made a frightening KAAATHHH noise.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Scully ran down the corridor. "Keep going it should be to your left." Langly gave commands though her ear piece. She turned and looked at the door knob, the last number was spinning into place, lined up with the rest, and then there was a click. She turned the handle and say Byers and Frohike looking through papers.  
  
"What the. " she saw the hybrid animals in the cages. "What's going on?"  
  
"Government testing," Frohike said handing her a document.  
  
Byers walked over, "It's been going on for 5 years now. The military wants a super animal that they can control. By taking the best quality out of each animal and making a new age version of Frankenstein."  
  
Frohike looked into some more of the cages "The thermal vision of a snake, the speed of a cheetah, eyes of a hawk, and brain of a dolphin."  
  
Scully came across a cage that had an animal that looked slightly like a bird but with the head of a dog, it barked at her then fluttered around.  
  
"It says here that only one has successfully been created." Scully pointed to the top of the page, "That this one will obey them." Her cell phone made a loud ringing noise and launched the animals into panic.  
  
"Hello," she answered.  
  
"Agent Scully? This is Greg from the Meriden City Crime Lab. I ran a few more tests on your nail."  
  
She motioned to Frohike to try and calm the animals down. "Yes, and?"  
  
"Whatever this is, we found out that it has the DNA of different animals."  
  
"I could have told you that."  
  
He sounded surprised, "How would you have known?"  
  
"Never mind, anything else?"  
  
"Well I did a tox-screen and found traces Laburnum in it." He told her.  
  
"Laburnum... isn't that a poison that dries out the blood?" she wondered.  
  
"Yes, and it runs through the middle of the nail. I'm speculating that it attacks its enemies with its nails then injects the poison. But in a matter of minutes the poison and blood are gone and can not be traced. That's probably why you didn't find any of this in your autopsy or the dead dog. Oh and Agent Scully, you need to stay away from this animal. Make sure your partner knows about this also."  
  
She dropped her phone, "Mulder!" _______________________________________________________________________  
  
Piers walked forward, revealing his true form. Paul Smith looked up in dread at creature. Its feet were of talons, legs of a cheetah, body of a bear, and the head of a jackal. It seemed to grin at him as it walked first on four legs then rose up to its back. The eyes, they shimmered in the dim glow of the emergency lights. "Please!" Dr. Smith pleaded "I take it back; I won't go through with it. The project can stay."  
  
"Small, weak, stupid, Dr. Smith, how can you let something like this influence you so easily," She taunted him. She walked up to Piers and scratched behind his ear. "I can't have you ruining my plans, the government's plans. But I'll give you a head start. You know," she laughed "To make a game out of it for Piers. Paul struggled to get up; he turned and ran for the door. Piers pounced onto his back, knocking him to the floor. "The time has come, Pauly."  
  
"No wait! Stop!" he screamed.  
  
Mulder heard all he could take, he grabbed his gun and rammed the door in. "FBI, stop or I'll shoot!" The room froze, no one moved.  
  
Without warning Dr. Mitchell shouted, "Attack Agent Mulder!" In one motion he rose off Mr. Smith and dove onto Mulder. Mulder's second nature kicked in and he fired at his assailant hitting it square in the chest. It let out a yep, jumped off him, and ran out the door.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Scully, Byers, and Langly ran through the building to where all the racket was coming from. How can the guards not hear us? Scully thought. Then something knocked Scully into Byers and into Frohike creating the domino effect, it felt hairy, like a dog or something, but she couldn't see exactly what it was.  
  
"Scully, what was that?" Byers yelled out of breath.  
  
Frohike got up, "I think that was the thing that we about hit in the car."  
  
"Quit talking and let's move!" Scully continued running to where she left Mulder.  
  
They got to the door and saw Mulder with his gun on Dr. Mitchell. "Your under arrest for one count of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder, 1 count of attempted murder on a federal officer. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you." He carried on with the rest of the rights and hand cuffed her. "Dr. Smith, will you please call the cops." Paul ran to the phone and dialed.  
  
"Mulder, what happened here?" Scully said looking around the clattered room.  
  
"Oh. it's a long story." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Let's just sort things out then get back to D.C. now. "  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
Epilogue  
  
Phoenix, Arizona Smith Residence 10:30 pm  
  
Dr. Paul Smith sat at home reading his paper thinking to himself; I'm so glad that I could send the rest of the family on vacation while this accident is being sorted out. He turned on the TV and let it run in the background. On the screen showed a woman in a lab coat being escorted by the police to one of the cars. An announced said, "Scientist, Denise Mitchell has been arrested for the murder of one of her employees and attempted murder of an FBI agent." As quickly as the story had came the screen switched to the weather.  
  
"Stormy night ahead of us," Paul heard the news say, he had listened enough and switched it off.  
  
"Now back to the paper," he said. On the front cover there was an article about recent animal killings. He shrugged off the thought about what happened in the lab. "Naw. couldn't be." Just then the door bell rang, startling him just a little bit. There was a crash of thunder and rain started pelting against the house. "Who would be out this late?" He arose from his chair and walked to the door, peering out the eye whole he saw no one was there. Paul opened the door and looked around. "Odd."  
  
He made his was back to the family room and looked at the back door. It was wide open. "Something is going on here. No. It's just my imagination." He shut the door and sat back down. The hair on the back of his neck rose, slowly he turned to look what was behind him. Nothing, not a single thing, "Just my imagination" he kept telling himself. Then a smash came from the kitchen.  
  
Running in he saw there was a glass cup shattered on the floor. "That's it. something is in here, I'm calling 911." Paul rushed to the phone dialing the numbers.  
  
"Emergency 911, how may I help you?" a voice came from the other end.  
  
"Yes, I need the cops at my house this instant. I'm supposed to be alone, but I don't think I am at the moment. Please hurry. Something is here!" He spoke softly into the receiver.  
  
"Sir, what is your address?" asked the voice. Paul hadn't heard the last question. He was to busy staring at the darkened doorway leading back into the entry way of the house. For a second he thought he saw two distinct red dots floating.  
  
He went back to the phone, "Excuse me. Can you repeat that again?"  
  
"I asked what your address was?" she answered.  
  
"It's-." From the darkness of the hallway, a creature jumped out at him. Paul yelled and the thing clawed at him.  
  
The operator could tell something wasn't right, "Sir, Sir? Are you alright? What's going on?"  
  
Struggling for breath Paul let out, "Help me! Its back!" and that was all she heard.  
  
________________________________________________________________________  
  
The End. Or is it? 


	5. Final Note From The Author

Hope you guys liked my story. Hopefully I will able to write a series of X Files fan fics later when I get more free time. Well, until then. I'm Off.  
  
*The Show May Be Over.*  
*But The Truth Is Still Out There.*  
*The X files* 


End file.
